Defender Timmy Chandler is out for the Copa América Centenario. Now, defender Edgar Castillo is in line to take his place.
Chandler has been diagnosed with a right quadricep strain after he exited early from Eintracht Frankfurt's winning effort in a playoff to avoid relegation from the Bundesliga. He did not feature for the US national team's friendly against Ecuador on Wednesday.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann is now applying to bring in Castillo, who plays left back for Monterrey in Liga MX. His club fell to Pachuca on the road Thursday night in the Liga MX finals, with a return leg set for Sunday. Castillo will report to US national team camp after the Liga MX finals.
Chandler's injury meant only one other defender was left on Klinsmann's 23-man Copa América roster who has played left back for the US, Borussia Monchengladbach's Fabian Johnson – typically a wide midfielder for his club. With the call-up of Castillo, Klinsmann selects a replacement who has also played at left back on the international level. Castillo has 18 caps for the US and he started their last two World Cup qualifiers against Guatemala.
Copa América regulations stipulate that an injured player may be replaced on the roster up to 24 hours prior to a team's opening match and the replacement must come from the team's 40-man preliminary roster submitted April 29. Chandler's injury came just two days after Klinsmann publicly announced his roster.
The US national team continues preparations for the Copa América with a final tune-up against Bolivia on Saturday in Kansas City, Kansas (8 pm ET, FS1, UniMás, UDN).
